The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Lupine plant, botanically known as Lupinus hybrid and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Gladiator’.
The new Lupine plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Devon, United Kingdom. The objective of the breeding program is to develop new uniform and freely flowering Lupine plants with large attractive flowers.
The new Lupine plant originated from an open-pollination in June, 2004 of a seedling selection of Lupinus hybrid identified as Lupinus Russell Hybrid Seedling WCL 032/99, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with an unknown selection of Lupinus hybrid as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Lupine plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor in June, 2005 as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated open-pollination in a controlled environment in Devon, United Kingdom.
Asexual reproduction of the new Lupine plant by micro propagation in a controlled greenhouse environment in Hillegom, The Netherlands since March, 2009 has shown that the unique features of this new Lupine plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.